Posted
by
Zonk
on Wednesday November 07, 2007 @01:34PM
from the not-going-down-without-a-fight dept.

Next Generation has up a feature on the rising fortunes of Sony's PSP. Overlooked for quite some time now as the DS dominates the headlines, the article argues that the handheld console still has a lot to offer ... and people are starting to notice. "Sony has always commanded strong third-party support for its systems since the success of the original PlayStation, and [senior PSP marketing manager John Koller] believes that PSP developers are similarly finding ways to get creative and present fun titles. 'Upcoming launches such as God of War: Chains of Olympus from a first-party perspective, and Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron from LucasArts, are certainly good examples of fantastic franchises made unique on the PSP,' he says. 'It's clear that consumers do not want the same game on their PSP that they play on console.'"

I've always liked the potential of the system. Just the other week I bought a slim (Mostly for FFT:TWotL). I'm really looking forward to having more games to choose from.
I think Sony finally has an opportunity to really get the ball rolling here.

'Upcoming launches such as God of War: Chains of Olympus from a first-party perspective, and Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron from LucasArts, are certainly good examples of fantastic franchises made unique on the PSP,' he says. 'It's clear that consumers do not want the same game on their PSP that they play on console.'

Actually, it's not clear at all when you list God of War and Star Wars Battlefronts as examples, basically more ports (original story or not) of console games.

You're right in noticing that. And I'd actually say it's not at all true that people do not want the same game on their PSP/DS that they play on console. Some of the most popular games on both handhelds are very much console-style games, from Mario Kart DS to Castlevania. People just want "more good things," whether or not they are different from what they've seen in the past.

Wasn't the whole point of it to be more like a home console than other portables? I don't even see how anyone could expect to get something different or unique on PSP, except for the usual quirky titles that can get greenlit on a handheld but not on a home console.

Some of the most popular games on both handhelds are very much console-style games, from Mario Kart DS to Castlevania.

I'm under the impression that platform exploration franchises [tvtropes.org] moved to handhelds in part because Sony Computer Entertainment America didn't want original sprite-based games on its hardware.

But simplified controls isn't all that is important to portable games. I personally think the most important is being able to start and stop at virtually any time. Many Nintendo DS games do this really well by allowing you to save whenever you want and getting back into the game takes about 10 seconds after a cold start. Not to mention being able to just close the DS, telling it to hibernate.It's a portable game, that usually implies it is some kind of secondary action, whether you're in a bus, waiting a

Optical media always has and always will suck. Solid state is the only reasonable media for a handheld device. I think it's short sighted and quite stupid to expect people to carry giant, slow loading UMDs.

I keep 4 DS games in my WALLET at all times, I keep my DS Lite in my pocket and the outside gets scratched to hell, but of course since the clamshell design protects the screens, the device is still as playable as the day I got it. Somehow I doubt the PSP would hold up to the abuse I dish out to the DS Lite daily.

Optical media always has and always will suck. Solid state is the only reasonable media for a handheld device.

Why is this modded flamebait? Its true. If Sony really had the business brains, they would allow down loadable content to SSD memory sticks as most people do with the ripped movies and homebrew apps.

Heck, if they really had the balls they allow a legitimate method for PSP users to actually rip their games to SSD, but they seem to be so against that. Actually, people already do that for "backups" and

You realise they do allow downloadable content (just like the PS3) the thing is they don't big it up, The wipeout game for it is probably the best example out of my collection I've gained about 10 tracks a bout 5/6 new songs, an extra vehicle or two as well as a new race mode. I know its not an entire game but its amazing how much it can help.

Your comment about "scratching the disk" is kinda stupid, UMD is alot like mini-disc (there in a big protective case), my Wipeout disc from launch day still works fi

The UMD case design is just broken. It has a big honking hole which can't be closed. If something gets into the hole, it's hard to get it out again. Maybe Sony would have done better not having a case at all.

I have a PSP since June and I'm a long time Minidisc user. I can't for the life of me figure out why they took out the major protection that was the little cover on the discs. Changing the form factor from MD to UMD was already stupid (business my ass), but that particular move was beyond retarded.

Square put the FFT remake on the PSP. I want the FFT remake, but I'm not about to buy the PSP for just one game. It's the games, stupid- there's only really one "must buy" PSP game for me (and about 3 or 4 others I'd pick up if I already had a PSP) and that just doesn't cut it.

I have Disgaea on the PS2, and I don't really care that much for the insane amount of grinding that goes into it. I want the FFT remake in large part due to the retranslation, but I'd definitely consider Jeanne D'arc if I got a PSP. The problem is really that it simply isn't worth it to me to get a PSP when there are so few other games on it I want.

If you like FFT, then pick up a PSP RIGHT NOW. There are incredible games for that system in that genre; it's literally got the best RPGs and strategy games on the market.

Just a sampling:

* Jeanne D'Arc - Take FFT and Fire Emblem. Have them fuck. Take the child, and put it in the Hundred Years War. Add in magic transforming armour and British soldier ZOMBIES. Hit puree. This is probably the best strategy game out for this system that didn't come out years ago.

* Disagea - The same game as the PS2 version, with additions.

* Generations of Chaos 1 + 2 - Decent games from the same people that did Disagea.

In addition to those, there's a host of JRPGs, such as Riviera (which I don't particularly care for), three Legends of Heroes games, and a few others from NiS (Disagea). It's an awesome system.

I can't speak for Zelda, but FF3, at least, is a pretty bad RPG all things considered. I'm glad I played it (I'm an FF nut), and it's amusing to an extent, but the plot is absolutely horrid. It wouldn't be hard for any RPG at all to outclass FF3.

I know that the plot in FF3 is on par with what's expected for its time, but for better or for worse, it is competing against modern RPGs. It has fun combat, and is good for fans of the series for nostalgia-ish purposes, but for RPG fans in general, I'd give it a pass.

I'm not sure how Lumines=Luminous Arc (they both have Lumi in it--don't you think that's, I dunno, a bit of a stretch?)

"Hello, this is Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and I pronounce Lumines as luminous." If you pronounce it Loo-mines, you've been playing too much Minesweeper.

How can a game be "exclusive" at all if it's on more than one platform-holder's hardware?

Because it's not on HP's hardware (iPAQ or Pavilion) nor on Nintendo's hardware (DS or Wii), apart from homebrew [pineight.com]. Owners of Nintendo systems or commodity computer systems are excluded, matching the plain definition of "exclusive".

* Jeanne D'Arc - Take FFT and Fire Emblem. Have them fuck. Take the child, and put it in the Hundred Years War.

Hey, you figure the kid might have what it takes to get into the special forces? I hear those Red Shoulders are some bad-ass motherfuckers... Would drink the blood of their own mothers from the broken skulls of their best friends, and set a town on fire just to warm it up...

The homebrew scene is still very much alive though.I havent kept up with the news site lately since I started a new job and slashdot is enough of a time waster, but I believe there's still new custom firmware coming out for the PSP.I bought mine around 2 months ago, immediately downgraded it and have been using the hell out of it.I have a ton of SNES,NES and GB roms on it and some movies on my 4gb memory stickI'd like to get a PSP slim for the TV out but I'm not sure how the homebrew scene is coming along w

The PSP, much like the PS3, is an albatross. Sony got locked into the idea that all that people wanted was more of the same but with better graphics... That and the mistaken idea that everyone wants to play Sony formatted movies on their game systems.
I remember when the PSP was coming out and a bunch of my friends were all yammering about how cool it was that the PSP played movies. I'd already had the benefit of tagging along to E3 with a game company that I did some stuff for, and tried out the DS. Right then I knew that the DS had something new to offer. The PSP movies? All that I could think was "Why would I want to buy the same movie twice?"
Sony is hugely disconnected with the market. They just don't seem to understand what players want and seem to be more interested in telling them what they should want. That's why the PSP tanked, that's why the PS3 tanked. If each of them is starting to show some life now, it's not necessarily because Sony understands the gaming consumer any better. More than likely it's a response to price cuts and unavailability of the desired alternative platforms (Wii and DS, X360 with Halo 3, etc..)

Plus, even if you did want to watch movies, it better be damn near pitch black out or else you won't be able to see anything on the damn screen. That's the biggest reason my PSP sits in my office on a shelf: Unless I want to use it outside between the hours of 2100 and 0600, it's only good for playing when I'm inside.

Point the first: Sony made a loss on every PSP for at least the first two years, while the GBA, GBA SP, and DS all sold at a profit.

Point the second: Sony's gaming division posted losses for quite some time after the PSP was released.

Point the third: Over 110 million units sold for GB and GBC combined, over 80 million GBAs and SPs. Each unit sold at a profit. 25 million PSPs sold? That's not just chicken scratch, that's chicken shit - especially given how many were sold at a loss.

Selling 25 million units of anything doesn't automatically denote success. You have to actually make money.

Point the third: Over 110 million units sold for GB and GBC combined, over 80 million GBAs and SPs. Each unit sold at a profit. 25 million PSPs sold? That's not just chicken scratch, that's chicken shit - especially given how many were sold at a loss.

Why? Sony is in the line at the bank filling out forms for a loan. Thats a different line. They haven't made a dime overall on the PS2. They had profitable years yes, but still in the hole over that. The Gamecube made Nintendo FAR more money than the PS2 will ever make Sony (even if they fanagled numbers to show SOME small profit). Numbers sold mean something to fanboys. Profits mean a fuck of allot more to investors however who really decide who the winner is. If the PS3 doesn't do something AMAZING profi

"Sony is teh suX0rs"? \/\/3|| 1f y0|_| \/\/4|\|+ +0 |23|)|_|(3 |\/|y 4|2g|_||\/|3|\|+ +0 +|-|4+, +|-|3|\| f1|\|3.
How about if we put it this way... Leading up to the launch of the Nintendo DS, all that I heard, non-stop, was how the PSP was the greatest system every made, blah, blah, blah, blah. Plays movies, blah blah, better graphics, blah, blah.
Some months later, the DS was absolutely crushing it in sales numbers. Even now, while I'll admit that the PSP is doing better than, say, Gamegear, it's s

"The idea of a handheld rivalry with Nintendo is an irrelevance. Those formats don't appear in our planning. It's not a fair comparison; not fair on them, I should stress. That sounds arrogant, maybe, but it's the truth. With the DS , it's fair to say that Nintendo stepped out of the technical race and went for a feature differentiation with the touch screen. But I fear that it won't have a lasting impact beyond that of a gimmick - so the long-lasting appeal of the platform is at peril as a direct result of

Sorry, I don't even own a PSP but I consider selling a few million of anything to be a success - no matter how you wearing DS colored glasses would prefer to color it.The Atari Lynx? That was a failure. The NGage? Please. There are plenty of handholds to look to if you want to define failure. But the PSP is what it is, and that is (while not exactly what they set out to be) not a failure.

Nintendo has every right to be beaming with pride, but that doesn't take away from what Sony has managed to do with

That's a pretty absurd statement. Apple sells way more iPods each year than the PSP has sold since its introduction early 05. Selling only "a few million" iPods next year would be a miserable failure for Apple. Obviously, selling "a few million of anything" is not always a success.

no matter how you wearing DS colored glasses would prefer to color it.

Yeah, I also own a DS. But my imaginary glasses are hardly DS colored (would that be pink?). As I said, I also own a PSP and even an N-Gage. I'm "platform agnostic." I actually bought about 20 PSP games (although I on

with the ps3 and psp is that the technology they choose is ahead of its time. this translates into slow starts with their systems, as the hardware in the systems is beyond the price range of what people want to pay.
the upside of this is that it ensures longevity of a system if and when popularity takes hold.
the psp is a great little gadget that, much like the ps3, got off to a slow start./P

Actually, the problem is that the PSP's hardware is NOT ahead of its time. It's an ancient MIPS processor, which is related to the PS2, not to the PS3 which is a Cell. Tie that to a proprietary nonstandard optical format, and the conclusion is, the PSP is a dead-end design.

I hate to point this out, but that doesn't follow, as much as people like to claim it does around here. I posted AC for years before I made an account, simply because I posted infrequently enough that I didn't feel like putting forth the effort to register. Not all ACs are people hiding because of an unpopular opinion/bad argument.

Yes, because someone who posts AC is actually going to keep track of their posts and respond. Theres next to no fucking point in even reading an AC post. Let alone responding. The point of posting is to have a discussion. ACs post with the purpose of being mightier than thou then never know if someone tears their points apart. This one's are quite easy, but whats the fucking point? Theres no discussion. It's like talking to a wall.

And you're correct, there's not a whole lot of reason to believe that someone who posted AC is going to come back to check their post. That does not, however, imply that they're posting just to hide. You're taking a possible explanation for posting AC, and deciding, even though you're wrong by counter-example, that all ACs post for that reason. Hardly being rational.

I can rationalize all I want. If someone can't be bothered to create an account, let alone login I will happily treat their ideas as meaningless bullshit. Life is too short to deal with it when someone doesn't want to be part of a community. When people post AC they are either lazy, or hiding. In either case, their opinions are meant to be written off. No matter what, they have an ulterior motive thats anti-conducive to constructive criticism, and you know. Debate. I of course salute you sir for logging in,

The press continues to miss the story on the PSP. The story is that Sony sold a lot of PSPs. Sony now shares the handheld market with Nintendo, instead of Nintendo more-or-less owning the entire market. That's a success. The PSP is a success with over 25 million sold so far.

Going forward, the PSP still has the technical capabilities and the software development to be a competitive product for 2-3 more years at least.

Good catch - that'll teach me to post sources without looking at them more carefully.

Since the start of 2006 it looks like that page sums to 14.49 million units sold, but the PSP appears to have been shipping (at least in Asia) since December 2004. That still leaves us with roughly a year unaccounted for, and while it doesn't seem impossible for that year to include ~10.5 million sales, It'd still be cool to find actual numbers.

Nice how you conveniently forget to mention that Nintendo has never before had lower than 90% marketshare in the entire history of portable video-gaming. In that light, the PSP is not "just a me-too player."

I think his point is more that the PSP isn't the complete disaster that previous non-Nintendo handhelds (Sega Game Gear, NeoGeo Pocket, etc.) have been. It's enough of a success that the "PSP2" stands a shot at beating Nintendo.

When I bought my PSP, I originally did so with two purposes in mind: EBook reader (plenty of freeware out there to convert.lit and.pdf files to be viewable on the screen perfectly) and movie player (again, plenty of good quality freeware conversion software out there) Here and there I bought a couple games (Monster Hunter 2, Daxter, etc.), but I primarily bought one for it's uses other than gaming.

A month or so ago, I finally got around to modding mine so as to be able to play roms and utilize the (huge) homebrew scene...best move I ever made. I have since bought a 4 gig memory card, and currently have every NES, SNES, Genesis/game gear, game boy games on it as well as a decent amount of GBA and MAME roms. I use the homebrew scene to help control my home theater, play movies better, and just make the interface look nicer. Unlike many others, I have no plans to actually download any PSP ISO's (except manhunt 2, just to try out the uncensored version...it's just as bad of a game, not really worth the time)

In fact, I like the ability to do all this so much that I recently bought both my fiance AND my best bud a PSP, just so that they could have the same fun I am having. Yes yes eys, I know there is a lot of talk about roms and such, but sitll...doing this has breathed new life into my PSP, and has actually gotten me more interested in buying PSP games than I was before (primarily because I used to simply like the system...now I love it) Add to that the non-shiny outerbody casing I bought, coupled with a very good but very inexpensive screen saver (screws onto the two mounting holes on top, and flips down over the screen when you aren't using it, protecting it from scratches), my PSP is likely one of my favourite gaming objects for the time being.

Despite Sony's efforts to thwart homebrew on it, homebrew is the very reason they got more money out of me and my friends than they would have if it were not possible. If you are into emulation or just plain messing around with your gadgets, the PSP is your best bet as far as portable gaming is concerned...as far as actual games goes, the DS blows the PSP out of the water, but the PSP still has some decent games out there for it...much like a PS3 (for now) however, don't buy it expecting to play a lot of great NEW games on it.

I think that folks like you are such a tiny minority that you don't figure into Sony's calculations at all.

What I believe Sony is legitimately afraid of is homebrew capabilities being used to pirate games. Easy homebrew equals easy piracy (unless you design for a sandboxed homebrew from the outset, like Microsoft's XNA Studio). That in turn equals a precipitate drop in game sales, which is where Sony gets a lot of its profit.

Other than the few games on the Virtual Console, how am I stealing from Nintendo or Sega? If I were to buy the actual games for the actual consoles, it would come from Ebay or my local used game shop, which means those companies wouldn't get that money anyway.Or what about games that were never released in the US, such as Secret of Mana 3? How is it stealing for me download a game that I had no way of buying in the first place?

Lemme guess, import the game right? If I did that, it sure wouldn't be from Ni

Who cares what the law considers - have you considered you are a tight-ass?I mean, really, think about your statement...I want to play these games, the only way for me to legally obtain these games would result in ZERO money going to the company ANYWAY, so what difference does it make to them (morally, anyways) if I download them? I don't care about the legality of it...you break a law every time you go over the speed limit, yet still do it. Why? Cause you don't care. Just like I don't care that I am ob

Off the top of my head, 5 that I can think of.As far as not downloading PSP games, I don't do it for two reasons.

1. As with any console I mod, I do still buy games for it (my 360 is a perfect example of this...the last 6 games I have obtained for it were bought, not downloaded and burned)2. PSP games take up a large amount of space on a memory stick (this may seem like the primary reason, but it's not. I recognize hard work, and I recognize what I enjoy. If I download a game, and really enjoy it, I will

Actually the law does not consider it stealing, it considers it some form of copyright infringement. By disagreeing with the GP I guess you're suggesting that buying a used game is also "stealing" from the original developer/publisher/IP owner?

By disagreeing with the GP I guess you're suggesting that buying a used game is also "stealing" from the original developer/publisher/IP owner?

Copying a game from the Internet, even if you own a lawfully made copy on a ROM cartridge, is probably copyright infringement. Buying a used game cartridge from a seller within your country is not copyright infringement in the United States and other countries that have exhaustion of exclusive distribution rights at first sale.

Well the Virtual Console on the Wii has shown that old games do still have value. The manufactures also sell them in game packs for modern PC. Heck I bought a console that has like 40 old 2600 games.So is it stealing? Legally I would say yes. How you feel about it up to you.

Well the Virtual Console on the Wii has shown that old games do still have value.

So what should I do if Virtual Console has very few of the specific NES titles I want? When will Hot-B's Palamedes or Nintendo's Earthbound: Prototype[1] show up there? What about Midway's Klax[2] or Wisdom Tree's The King of Kings[3] or Panesian's Bubble Bath Babes[4]?

[1] Earthbound: Prototype was the English version of the Japanese game Mother, the prequel to Mother 2 (Earthbound in North America). Nintendo canceled the North American release due to a perception of not enough demand to justify manuf

Well, Nintendo did release some previously unreleased games in Europe and the US, so it's possible that some of these games may make it to the VC. Probably none of the unofficial games, but a translation of Mother may very well appear on the VC at some point in the future.

"So what should I do if Virtual Console has very few of the specific NES titles I want?"Why ask me? I was saying legally pirating software is pirating software.Somebody somewhere still holds the copyright to those games. If they are copyrighted at all.If they never filed a copyright then you are good to go. I would love to see companies that go bye bye release there work into the public domain.Legally your are infringing on copyrights by playing those games on emulators. Ethically that is up to you, it isn'

Ironically, you just helped to prove my point further. I didn't build my car, I bought it from the manufacturer. Whether I sold it to you or you stole it from me, Acura won't get a single cent from you.

Same as with a rom. Again, show me someplace that will allow me to buy Secret of Mana 3 directly from Nintendo, or Faxanadu, or any other number of games that haven't been made and distributed from the manufacturer for a number of years, and I will stop "stealing" roms. Until then, have a great day!

My bad analogy aside, I can still the reason that manufacturers of games get upset about this sort of thing. The fact is that they may, in the future, produce this game again. The fact that copies of the old version of the game are still around decrease the value of there product. So it costs them money.

People should do whatever the fuck they want with the hardware they buy and let giant soulless corporations like Nintendo, Sega, and Sony take care of themselves.Most of the games released for the PSP and the DS are just PORTS of older games for old consoles. I find it crazy that Sony and Nintendo feel the need to charge $30 for a game released 15 years ago. And why not release multi-game carts or carts that contain flash memory that you can download multiple ROMs? (like the 3rd-parties have done for the DS

There is a fairly large homebrew scene out there for DS as well. You can get a Datel Games 'N Music cart for DS from walmart online now for about 20 bucks. This is a cart that you can slap a microSD card into. Off the shelf it comes with an MP3 player, and movie player and software to convert most popular video formats to a format that you can play on the DS. Now, there are lots of options as far as GBA carts etc. and probably better ones, but with this out there, it opens homebrew up to the general public

So you're saying that a good chunk of your enjoyment comes from illegal use of the PSP. Not commenting on the morality of ROMS here, simply stating the fact that much of what you enjoy on the PSP is there illegally.Personally (again, while everyone's sharing), I tried the PSP a few times at a friend's house. My thumb hurt after about 20 minutes, the control stick is iffy for me, and it's positively gigantic, requiring a shell to protect its screen. Not to mention battery life that's abysmal (3-4 hours on UM

Actually no, the roms were just what I touched on the most because I figured it was the feature most people would be interested...there is actually a rather large library of free homebrew games developed for the PSP, as well as numerous useful utilities...enabling homebrew on it also enables the decoding of various other video codecs, rather than being stuck with MP4 and AVC. Ditto for sound formats, and ditto for music players/movie players.Homebrew games, for example, include a port of Doom. It comes wi

As far as a remote control for my home theater goes, in a market where programmable remotes can reach the four digit mark, the PSP is actually rather inexpensive in that regard;-)Yikes! I guess there was a reason I stopped looking into home theater builds a while back. Figures like that require either I rebuild Enron and plunder it like it's 1999 or win several jackpots.Interesting. Looks like the PSP might actually be a useful portable computer.... once you've freed it from Sony's shackles.

Kinda...there are numerous homebrew programs for it that enable PDA-type function, although typing on it is quite a chore and the internet browser "just" works...haven't really looked at internet homebrew stuff for it...hmm...I wouldn't call it a replacement for a full-blown PDA, but if all you need is something to keep track of a simple schedule and your contacts, it works quite well:-)

Kinda...there are numerous homebrew programs for it that enable PDA-type function, although typing on it is quite a chore

That's why if I want to use a handheld gaming system as a PDA, I put an R4 card into a Nintendo DS and start DSOrganize. Then if I'm feeling artistic, I put in Colors! and draw this [isthething.com] or this [isthething.com]. It sure beats an analog stick.

I bought a PSP about a year after it came out. Played a ton of Lumines, bought about 20 games, hardly ever played those. I mainly used it as a way to watch movies while riding in a train. Then, I got an iPhone. I don't use my PSP anymore.

I have since bought a 4 gig memory card, and currently have every NES, SNES, Genesis/game gear, game boy games on it as well as a decent amount of GBA and MAME roms. [...]. Unlike many others, I have no plans to actually download any PSP ISO's

Let me get this straight : you say the PSP is good because you can play pirated Nintendo and Sega games on it? And you won't pirate PSP games? But you won't buy any either?Do you even know why the PSP is a bomb? No, it's not because it sold 25 M units despite being trounced by the DS.No, that's because Sony uses a loss leader strategy, and lose money on their consoles. Perhaps they don't anymore, but they used to.And they need software sales far more than Nintendo does. But here's the catch: the PSP softwa

You know what's funny about your whole post? Read through this entire thread and you will see in multiple places that I do in fact purchase PSP games (on the rare occasion one comes out that I enjoy, that is)Besides, I bought my PSP from a friend, so it's not like Sony got my money in the first place...I mean, say I bought a PSP and 20 games on Ebay...Sony STILL wouldn't be making money off me. Are you saying that if I bought gaming stuff off Ebay that I would be screwing the gaming company over?

I have a DS lite and really enjoy it. I also have a GB and a GBA SP. I was never tempted by the PSP until recently with the slew of games I really wish I had. Sales figures for Japan shows they are moving very briskly there. I haven't seen any stats on it for N.A. but I assume it's now a comfortable #2 as opposed to being #3 behind a 5 year old system like in years past.

Yeah the PSP though having the best graphics around was illfated so far. Though with the playstation 3 connection it finally get its due. I mean on what other system can you take Grand Theft Auto with you! It is a very grown up Portable in that term. Many games are quite grown up and well the DS doesn't always has the games that I like.I bought the PSP when the PS3 got into my grasp. Both just seem perfect together as sadly both aren't as fast going forward. There are quality in both that need time to work

It had those little plug-in VMUs that weren't just a memory card - they had their own power, an LCD screen, a D-pad and two buttons. Certain Dreamcast games could download mini-games onto the VMU, which you could play on the VMU itself. When the VMU was re-connected to the Dreamcast with the main game, you could upload your scores, which would unlock items etc. in the main game that couldn't be unlocked any other way. The games weren't amazing, having only 128K RAM to work with and a 48x32 screen, but th

"If there were games for the PS3 that could do that, there'd be more reason to buy a PSP."

Except you've got it backwards: there are more PSPs in the wild than PS3s, and Sony would be more interested to pin the PS3 onto the (relative) success of the PSP because of it. For example, note that you can only access the PlayStation Store to buy games through the PS3, in spite of several of the games being playable on the PSP and the PSP's ability to access the internet without an intervening PS3.

Can anyone recommend educational software for the PSP? (Or the GameBoy DS, I am not vested yet.) My young children have done quite well with the LeapPad [leapfrog.com] (can't beat the "screen" resolution) but now that they are writing, they are ready for something else. Their electronic product [leapfrog.com] doesn't impress me: the available titles are fairly redundant to what I have in paper, and the product is weak compared to PSP/DS.

The DS definitely has the most education software. Tons of Brain Training sequels and clones, and a bunch of maths, [ign.com] reading and language training [joystiq.com] games aimed at younger kids. Some of these are only available in Japan, but a lot make it to the US or Europe (and you can import Europe releases to the US and play them on US DSs).

There are a few brain training clones on the PSP, but they are few and far between.

But maybe the best solution would be a "real" computer like the OLPC box. [laptopgiving.org] You can even easily create y

I have a PSP and a DS. I find these days that the PSP largely sits gathering dust, while the DS lives in my pocket and gets a fair amount of use whilst commuting.

The exact opposite for me, actually. I spend far more time with my PSP than my DS, and the time I do spend with my DS is generally not spent playing the "innovative" titles that have become Nintendo's claim to fame in recent years. Games like New Super Mario Bros., Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, or Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass aren't exactly innovative, but they're also the most enjoyable games for a system that seems to flounder under the weight of innovative-but-unpolished first party titles and a